A few years ago, Pam Stuppy decided it was time to make her 50-year-old timber frame family home in Maine a little more efficient.
Stuppy, who lives in York, knew there were issues with drafts and moisture in the house. And she wanted to add some alternative energy sources to reduce her reliance on burning propane for heat.
But Stuppy said thinking about where to start was daunting.
"You know, sometimes a project seems so ominous, and you don't break it down initially, and it's like, 'oh, we'll never get this done,'" Stuppy said in a recent interview at her home.
Then she heard about a free "energy coach" program offered by York Ready for Climate Action, a regional activist group.
She reached out, and two local volunteers came by to take a look at her home and brainstorm some ways to make it more efficient.
"That felt really good, because there was no pressure. I mean, we feel like friends, it was so comfortable," Stuppy said.
"And that was a piece of it that felt good to me too. It's just like a neighbor down the street was putting our heads together and thinking what we could do with this situation," she added.
Filling a need
For years, states and local organizations across New England have offered financial incentives and other benefits to make homes and buildings more energy efficient.
In Maine, that includes rebates and low-income loans for insulation, weatherization and heat pumps through Efficiency Maine.
But finding out what benefits you might be eligible for can be overwhelming, said Rozanna Patane, an organizer with York Ready for Climate Action.
It can be tough to figure out what kind of work your home needs, let alone hire the right contractor and file for a state rebate.
"There's so much out there, it's like a flood of information coming at people," Patane said. "It's more than most people can deal with, just understanding what their options are and how to get things done and who does them."
Four years ago, Patane helped organize an energy coach program in an effort to help. The volunteers act like mentors and supporters, helping guide homeowners through their efficiency options, she said.
The program's aim is to help reduce greenhouse gas pollution - burning home heating fuel is responsible for almost half of the town's emissions, according to a 2022 report. In New England, buildings are about the second-biggest source of climate-warming emissions after transportation.
"So we knew that we would have to make headway in helping people cut their carbon emissions and electrify if the town was going to meet its climate action goals," Patane said.
To date, the dozen or so energy coach volunteers have engaged with almost 200 York residents, visited nearly 80 homes, and helped facilitate dozens of heat pump installations, energy audits and insulation upgrades.
"I would say we've been successful beyond my imagination in most aspects of the work that we do," Patane said.
Expanding across New England
Patane says she's working with other organizers to develop best practices for training and coaching to jumpstart new groups. She thinks the coaching model can help reach people struggling with high energy costs and aging homes.
"We're not trying to sell them anything," she said.
"We're just trying to give them good information and help them make their decisions with information. I think that model resonates, and I think it's getting more popular, not just in Maine, but across New England," she added.
Grassroots energy navigator programs are popping up all over the region. Some are run by volunteers, like a group in Western New Hampshire that is raising money to help with installation costs, too. Others have funding and paid staff. But all the participating organizations have the same goal.
“Improving comfort and reducing costs for people are really big priorities,” said Shannon Byran, who runs the navigator program for the Climate Economy Action Center of Addison County in Vermont.
The program started about two years ago and has built a cohort of 10 volunteer coaches. Bryan said they’ve visited more than 200 homes to offer advice and help people understand their available incentives, how to select a contractor, or compare quotes for work.
“These are daunting things for people who are busy, and they just don’t have time to navigate the whole thing,” Bryan said.
Plus, the neighbor-to-neighbor aspect of the work is an important way to foster trust with clients that might otherwise be motivated by climate change, Bryan added.
“We meet people where they’re at,” Bryan said. “So it’s not all about the greenhouse gas reduction, that is a byproduct of helping people move towards more efficient equipment and appliances.”
In Massachusetts, the HeatSmart alliance offers coaching in more than two dozen towns and cities to encourage homeowners to switch from fossil fuel heating systems to electric heat pumps.
Founder Bob Zogg said many clients want to make the change, but need help to take the first steps.
“Even with the historical good support Massachusetts has provided, a lot of homeowners really appreciated having a disinterested party come in and help them through the process,” Zogg said.
Help at every step
In her York home, Pam Stuppy points out her next project, blocking the cold air coming up through her kitchen counter. She doesn’t know whether she’ll use weather stripping, caulk, a combination or something else, but it’s on her immediate to-do list.
For Stuppy, coaching has led to a number of improvements and a better understanding of her home's strengths and weaknesses when it comes to energy use.
With the advice of her coaches, Stuppy hired a contractor to do an energy audit of her home. Then she started adding insulation and sealing drafts. Finally she installed heat pumps and subscribed to a community solar farm.
The coaches were there to help at every step along the way, Stuppy said.
"I felt like we weren't alone in this idea of trying to do some things. You know, it felt like we had a support system if we had questions," Stuppy said.
